Layla Nassar is currently pursuing a B.S. at the University of Miami in Neuroscience and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with an emphasis in molecular and behavioral neurobiology. Layla researches in a neural circuitry laboratory and plans to pursue a doctoral degree and eventually a career in academic research. She is an active NIH IMSD participant and a George W. Jenkins Scholar. Layla is the vice president of the school’s research peer networking organization, UConnect, and the president of the university’s chapter of Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. Layla’s career goals are tied to her dual passions for STEM and education. In Women in Next Generation Sciences, she hopes to share the vital educational resources in the sciences to young adolescent women via interactive physics curricula, robotics, and mentorship-based support networks in order to empower and prepare young women for future study in the sciences.